1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a cooling device having a cooling substance contained in a pillow or holder which are used for direct contact with the human body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There exist various types of pillows including a grass pillow, a wooden pillow, a stone pillow, a porcelain pillow, etc. which are used on beds. However, since these pillows feel hard to a user's head, there has been employed recently a stuffed pillow which fills various materials in a bag-shaped cloth and a flat pillow. The cloth used in the pillows is normally a cotton cloth and is filled with cotton, buckwheat hulls, adzuki beans, tea grounds and rice hulls.
The pillow has been variously designed to carry out a so-called "cooling head and heating leg" which is familiar as a key to health and long life. A water pillow is typical. There is a pillow having a body formed of a bundle of tubes through which air passes and a pillow having a plate body attached to the inside of the pillow in which the plate body is formed of a plurality of ceramic plates connected to one another in lengthwise and crosswise, etc.
In case of the water pillow, since it is filled with ice, the cooling effect relative to the head is very strong at the beginning which is used when the user injures his health and is feverish. However, it is not always useful for health care. Furthermore, ice should be refilled frequently since water radiates less heat when ice melts and the temperature of the pillow becomes gradually close to the body temperature and the cooling effect is lost at last.
Moreover, in the pillow having a bundle of tubes or the pillow having the plate body, a high keeping-cool property can not be attained although the heat exchange is effected due to air circulation or thermal transfer. Furthermore, these pillows can not be used comfortably since they feel hard to the user's head.
As a typical known holder for a cooling purpose, there is a type of band for cooling a head therewith, i.e. a so-called "Edison band". Nothing other than the cooling band is known as having been specifically developed. In order to mitigate a bruise or inflammation, it is usual to employ a sticking plaster which makes use of a poultice applied onto a pad cloth. For administration of first aid, cooling storage materials are held against the affected part through a towel or the like.
The head cooling band is made of a band tied around the head and a number of ceramic pieces attached to the band in a checkered pattern. The body heat is absorbed with the ceramic pieces, thereby cooling the head.
Since the known band tied around head has hard ceramic pieces, it is uncomfortable against the head. Especially, when one's head is sightly fastened with the band, pain is felt, making it impossible to use the band because it is comfortable.
The poultice plaster is applied by attachment to the affected part and is not uncomfortable. However, an odor of the ingredients contained in the poultice is relatively strong, inconveniently emanating the odor therearound. In addition, the ingredients sometimes stimulate the skin, causing a rash, an itch or an eruption to appear on or in the skin. On the other hand, cooling storage materials do not have a good thermal transfer rate and thus, the cooling time is long. However, once the stored cooling energy is lost, the cooling ability is lost completely with the problem that any further cooling effect cannot be expected.